“He will be called John." What, you are not naming your son Zechariah after his father? “So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.” You, too, say he is to be called John? And now all of a sudden you can speak? “Then fear came upon all their neighbors, ‘What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.’” Surprise! Astonishment! The unexpected can happen. Things change.

What change has taken place in you during these Advent days? Remain open to seeing the unexpected. Be surprised and astonished! Live in hope!